Disclaimer: I own all of the plot, history, and people except for Ulquiorra in this part of the story. Bleach and bleach concepts belong to Tite Kubo. I hope you enjoy.

Warnings: AU & OOC on the part of Ulquiorra

As usual, if you have questions, message me.

Hounoku no Ai: A Spring Long Past

Chapter 25

In the early morning, I rushed to Suzume's compound. I had no time to lose, today was the day that I would have act.

"What is this?" she asked as I shoved a small brown paper package into her hands.

"Poison," I told her simply. She looked at me incredulously.

"Seriously, Asako, what is-"

"I already told you, it's poison." I repeated firmly. I knew we were out of ear shot so I was less cautious.

"You can't be serious." She said sipping her tea. We had just finished breakfast outside in the garden in her compound. The servants were far away. For now, they were forbidden to set foot in the garden. They probably thought that Suzume and I needed a few last moments with each other. I would leave tomorrow night.

"Look, do you want to be together with your lover or not? I am being perfectly serious. I'm getting you out of this miserable place." I said keeping my facial expression level.

"Asako," she said slowly putting down her tea cup. She was beginning to believe me. "I didn't think you would ever do something like this."

"Yeah, well many things have changed and I've noticed that I might be approaching the end of my time anyhow." I said simply.

"Your speech has become less formal as well." She pointed out.

"Are you here to criticize me? Things change as the world changes. But you know, Suzume, you are my only true sister. You are the only one I consider family. I will make sure that you are safe." I said. "Now, tell me, do you want to escape or not? Both you and I hate this passionless and loveless palace. Ask me for help and you will get it." I said simply.

"I-I-" The emotion she had been hiding slipped out in the crack of her voice. "I do not want to cause any more trouble for you." She said slowly. "Even if I do want to get out."

"Then I'll tell you that if you stay, then you will be causing me more political trouble." I said. "You'll be betrothed to another person the moment I'm gone and all my sacrifice will be for naught."

"Asako," she said finally. "I want to get out. Please take me out of here. I want to be with him."

"Even if you don't have any money? Even if you can only wear rags? Even if you will suffer from the winter frost?" I asked her.

"Yes, if I can be with him, I'll do it." She said resolutely. I breathed out slowly.

"Then hide that package and come with me." I said quickly standing up.

--

"Asako, why are we here?" she asked as we walked through the shacks of items collected as tax. I had told the servants that I wanted to do an inspection. They looked at me strangely, but didn't try to stop me.

Now that we were alone, I turned to look at her.

"Suzume, if you truly love him, swallow that packet of poison. If you don't think you can do it, here's your last chance to back out." I said staring at her firmly. She twitched under my gaze.

"This poison, if I swallow it, will I really be able to be with him?" she asked. Her voice did not hold worry or fear.

"It will."

She took one look at me and then pulled out the package. She unfolded it with shaky fingers that betrayed how she felt. She looked at me with teary eyes and smiled sadly.

"Asako, I love you. You are my only sister and I trust you." She said before downing the packet of powder in one gulp.

I didn't flinch when she swallowed. She seemed to loser her balance and tilted back.

As she fell back, I caught her and with teary eyes, she called for me again.

"Suzume." I responded quietly.

Everything was going accordingly. Now my plan would begin.

"Help! Somebody! Come quick!" I screamed in desperation. Handmaids rushed in quickly with guards behind them.

"Suzume-hime suddenly collapsed. Hurry and get a doctor. Hurry and get her back to her compound!"

--

"Ju-no-hime-sama, I apologize about Juichi-no-hime-sama's condition." The doctor said after examining Suzume.

"I don't need your apology, Doctor," I said grumpily. "I need you to tell me what happened to Suzume."

"She seems to have caught the plague." He said grimly.

"But that's a commoner disease! That couldn't possibly reach…" I paused in thought and gasped. "Oh no, I was with Juichi-no-hime in the storage shacks." I said with shock and guilt. "This is all my fault." I cried.

"Ju-no-hime-sama, do not panic please, I will administer the best medicine we have. In most cases, people who have this treatment have a 70% chance of survival."

"Please do so, I'll pay whatever amount you request."

"Oh, that is very generous of you," he said. "But you see, even so, for two weeks, no one must go near her. Seeing as she will be asleep, she won't need any food, but water should be dripped to her from the outside. Sugar water can be dripped everyday as well in place of the meals. I myself have had this disease before so I am immune but this disease is highly contagious and others will get it very easily."

"Let me go in and see her while you make the medicine." I said.

"But Princess!"

"I will see her!" I ordered and he complied. "I have a healthy body and I must have already been exposed to the ailment since I was in that same room with her. So clearly, I have developed immunity as well."

-

I sat by Suzume's bed side as tears streamed from her eyes in pain. Her forehead was covered in sweat and wrangled sounds came from her throat. A patch of skin on her neck had turned purple. The doctor finished mixing the medicine. I stopped him.

"Let me feed her the medicine," I said. The doctor complied begrudgingly but did not leave. "Please let us have our time alone." I added. He bowed and slowly left.

The moment he was gone, I pulled out a small waterproof hide from my sleeve and poured out the contents of the bowl into it. I pulled out another brown paper package and used the extra tea cup to mix the contents of the new package in with water. I slowly fed the new concoction to her. It looked and smelled the same as the old one. I set up the bamboo pipe that would come from the outside and would drip water and sugar water to her lips for 2 weeks.

I then left the room and locked it. All I had to do now was get rid of the Doctor.

"Doctor," I called. He came promptly.

"I thank you for all the help you have given us. But if such a medicine has such a high rate to cure people, why do others not have it access to it?" I asked.

"Because, Ju-no-hime-sama, the ordinary person can not afford such a treatment."

"But if the sick go untreated, they will infect others around them and cause it to become an epidemic. If this illness had not spread so far, then Juichi-no-hime-sama would not have contracted it, right?"

"I suppose so," the Doctor agreed.

I breathed deeply and waved a handmaid forward.

"Please take the Doctor to the treasury and bring him 500 bars of gold. Doctor, please take this small token of my appreciation and use it to provide this medicine to others throughout the country. It would just be awful if it reached a peak within the capitol and it spread into the Palace so please go to the farthest corners of the Empire to treat this disease."

The Doctor bowed and thanked me graciously. He then followed the maid out.

--

As I walked towards the place I always met with Ulquiorra, I began wondering how I was going to tell him that I wouldn't be back. As much as I hated goodbyes, I wanted to see him again normally before the handmaid I pretended to be disappeared. Today was probably the last day I could meet him normally. Things were going to change. I would sit in the carriage as Ju-no-hime and would stare through the small window of my carriage at the road ahead and at the broad back of the person I yearned to but could not reach anymore. Tomorrow was my last day in the Palace and I would be immensely busy with preparations. So today was my last day here.

I wondered how I should phrase it to keep from being suspicious. If I told him that I was going on a trip, he might find that it corresponded coincidentally with his and learn that we were both going to be there. He only knew me as a handmaid and for some reason, it brought pain to me. I felt that if I didn't stop lying to him, he would never come to truly understand me. I then began to wonder, if it was time for me to be truthful with him about my status.

I stopped dead in my tracks as coldness prickled in my chest. I couldn't tell him. He would certainly hate me for lying to him, for humiliating him if I did. To have to watch him avert his gaze every time we met each other would kill me. He was a person I could talk freely with and thus he was important to me. He didn't treat me as an inferior just because I am a woman and a simple palace maiden. To have him think that I betrayed him, I didn't think I could bare that. I didn't want to think of him hating me.

But then, a wave of guilt spread through me. It was wrong of me to lie to him. From the beginning my deceit only benefited me and from the beginning. I had led him on like a doll on a string. Even if it was only to absolve my guilt a little bit, I felt that it had to be done.

My legs began to move forward again despite my remaining uncertainty. I began running the scenario through my head. I would walk through the trees and meet up with him on the green lawn. I knew he'd be able to see my distress and since he was such a kind and perceptive person. He'd definitely ask me what was wrong. I blushed then because I knew that no matter how composed I could be, I couldn't hide myself from him and when he reassured me that he knew, I would start to tear. I hoped to blurt out everything quickly in the moments before the fear of his hate could cause me to cry. I would tell him, "I'm sorry for fooling you, but I can't do it anymore. You are my closest friend. I'm not the simple maid you know. I am a princess and I regret hurting you in any way. Goodbye." I would then turn and leave. I wanted that to be the end of it. I would run away and never talk to him again. No matter what, I didn't want to see him bow down to me for as long as he knew me as Asako the servant. In fact, I didn't want to see him bow down to me ever when he knew who I really was. It would be too sad for me.

As I neared the grove of magnolia trees, any determination I had began to waver. My breath hitched in nervousness. Even so, I told myself to follow the plan. I forced myself to be determined and entered the grove. As I emerged from the trees, all of the tension inside my body suddenly melted as if it were butter. He did always have a way of calming me. All thoughts of my original plan of action melded away. I wanted to laugh a little as I looked at his serene face as he slept against the tree. He must have been exhausted by something. Perhaps, he had been waiting too long and got tired. No matter the reason, I enjoyed watching him sleep. I smiled and sat next to him seeing if he would wake up. He didn't. He didn't seem to mind the position he was sleeping in, but it seemed rather uncomfortable to me. Gently, I lay his body down on the grass and put his head on my legs. He stirred a little, but did not wake. His breaths were the same as usual.

"Thank you for being asleep, Ulquiorra." I thought. "You've saved me from doing something idiotic."

It was sunset when Ulquiorra began to stir. At first his body seemed to wake up slowly, but as soon as his sense returned to him, he knew that something was different. He immediately tried to sit up, but I pushed his head down again.

"Asako, what-."

"It's fine just relax, Ulquiorra." I said holding his head down against my lap. His face was turned toward the far off sunset that we both faced. "I'm just returning a favor. You did this for me once, right?"

"You really don't have to."

"But I want to," I said calmly.

Though I kept my voice still, my insides were churning at the sudden bold statement. I was glad that he was not facing me and I was glad that the sunset was so bright. I was glad that the orange light was able to mask the redness of my cheeks.

--

Ulquiorra was glad that he was not currently facing Asako. He didn't know if he could look her straight in the eye. No, he knew he couldn't. Even now a peculiar warmth spread itself over his face. He was simply glad that the sunset was so beautifully orange as its light hid the hues of his cheek.

--

"Asako," he said after a while.

"Yes," I responded having relaxed. Now that he was awake, my fingers just naturally began massaging his scalp. It was an odd thing to do, I know, but it seemed that my fingers wanted to do it.

"I'm leaving on an assignment tomorrow night." He said. "I can't tell you the details, but I'll be gone from the capitol for more than four months."

My hand stiffened and stopped. He was talking about my engagement trip.

"I'm sorry but I won't be able to see you until I return."

I sighed gently and moved my hand as he sat up.

"I understand," I said looking him in the eye. I couldn't hide the sadness that this subject brought me. Our time as Asako the simple lady and Ulquiorra the genius yet gentle man was coming to an end. Next time we'd meet, everything would be different. "Please tell me that you'll be safe. Please tell me that you'll come back. If you don't then I'd have no one to talk to anymore."

He looked away.

"This trip will be dangerous but I have confidence that I am capable of completing it safely. I promise you I'll come back to you here."

I smiled. "That's great then. In that case, this mission is a chance for you to prove yourself, right? It's you opportunity to show the Emperor who really should be the supreme general." I said eagerly.

"Yes, it is."

"In that case, I wish you the best of luck." I smiled.

"Asako, I'm really sorry for leaving you alone here for four months." He apologized

"Stop apologizing, it's your greatest opportunity. You can't afford to miss it. I'm happy that you have this chance. Besides, I'm a big girl. I can handle it." I smiled.

"I'll be busy tomorrow. I'm going to have to select the top soldiers from the army to lead with me." He said. "But I'd like to see you tomorrow before I leave. Can you come meet me at around seven past noon?" he asked.

I put my finger on my chin for a moment and then smiled.

"Seven past noon seems fine. I'll be here."

He ruffled my hair in appreciation. "Thanks."

I wasn't going to be here, but I couldn't tell him that. I'd be busy tomorrow too. I had a lot of things to prepare for. Suzume's situation had still not been resolved either. Tomorrow was critical and I wouldn't have any time to slack off. Besides, it would be better if he forgot about the Asako he knew anyways.

Author's Notes: We learn that Asako has her fantasies as well, but for her, reality is reality and her fantasy choice just isn't the realistic choice. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thank you so much for those that reviewed my chapters. I really appreciate it.

Aisumi